The Teacup Prophecies
by Noir Lime Canuto
Summary: "All I meant was, say we did meet, and we were just friendly, d'you reckon my Dad 'd actually be mad?" First year fluff. If you love Mary-Sues, you'll hate this. SM/RW, but it's not the focus of the story, 'specially not in first year, you silly thing.
1. Dizzy

Disclaimer: _Harry Potter is the property of J.K. Rowling. I am in no way affiliated with her. This is not a profitable work. No copyright infringement is intended._

Note: _This is, in fact, a NextGen Scorpius/Rose, but the summery was intended for another story. Since I'm unable to create new stories, the old story that existed under this title will no longer be, and this story is replacing it. Sorry if that's confusing. But I'll still include that quote._

_This might be a bit above K+, due to language, but I could see it passing in a PG movie. So, just warning you. I'd change the rating to T if I could._

_Thanks for reading, and sorry again for any confusion. Hope you enjoy!_

**Chapter One; Dizzy **

Rose spun around again, watching her skirt lift up into the air.

"Rose, you're going to make yourself dizzy," her mother said, placing a hand gently on the girl's shoulder and causing the spinning to halt. That it, until the girl shook her hand off and began to spin again.

"I am not," she protested, spinning at full force, "Everyone knows you only get dizzy once you stop spinning, mum. So, as long as I keep on spinning forever and _ever_-"

"Just be careful not to barf all over your dress, Rosie!" interrupted the little brown haired boy beside her. He was grinning maliciously, but Rose was sure her parents would buy it when he'd say he was just _showing concern for her wardrobe_ or something.

"How about I barf all over you?" she threatened, the skirt of her dress swishing around her legs as she stopped spinning abruptly. She made a move towards him, but suddenly the ground beneath her just wouldn't hold _still_.

"Not _dizzy_, are you, Rose?" Cheeks bright red, Rose ignored the comment, looking up to see her father entering the room.

"Who is _that_?" the man asked in feigned confusion, leaning back and pointing at Rose. He was very, very tall, and his hair was getting a little thin in the front, but was still a flaming red. His eyes were bright blue, and he looked with them first at his wife, then at his young son, who had inherited his hair.

"_When_," her father continued, "did we become acquainted with _royalty_?"

Rose's little brother started giggling, and Rose could only beam. "_Dad_," she said, rolling her eyes, "I know you know it's me-_Rosie_."

He made an exaggerated, elegant bow, then tipped his hat to the little girl. "Well, pleased to meet you, Princess _Rosie_. I love your new dress, I'm glad Mum let you buy it."

"_Ronald_, you _know_ how I feel about dresses!" her mother warned, then turned to look at her again, "But, of course, you _do_ look lovely, dear."

Rose liked the dress even more knowing she almost didn't get it. It was like she'd won it. Her mother was always hesitant to let her get inherently girly things, which she wasn't bothers about for the most part, except she adored dresses. This one was pale yellow sun-dress, with little blue flowers embroidered onto the hem and a think blue ribbon forming a bow along the neckline.

It was the _perfect_ dress for school-shopping, she decided, as she stepped into the fireplace after her brother.


	2. Falling

Disclaimer: _Harry Potter is the property of J.K. Rowling. I am in no way affiliated with her. This is not a profitable work. No copyright infringement is intended._

**Note**: To those who may have gotten alerts, please be aware that this is a different story. Still a nextgen, still Rose/Scorpius, but a different story, due to errors. For further explanation, see the note in the first chapter. And thank you so much for reading, I'm sorry for any inconvenience.

**Chapter Two; Falling **

**-Q-**

"Scorpius, honey, I just got an owl from my editor. I'm sorry, baby, I don't think I can take you shopping today after all, I know I promised. We can go tomorrow, if you want? We still have a week before your school starts. Or, if you want, Aunt Daphne and the kids are still going today, and she's invited you to join them?"

Scorpius nodded, "It's alright, mum. I'll just go with Aunt Daphne and them."

"You're sure? Because I can take you tomorrow."

"I'm sure, mum."

"Alright then, I'll go give Aunt Daphne money for you to spend. And be sure-"

"To behave myself and show respect. _Yes_, mum, I _know," _the boy interrupted, crossing his arms.

"Well, yes, but I was _going_ to say, be sure not to spend _this_ all at once," his mother corrected with a smile, holding out a small leather pouch to him. He looked up at her questioningly, and she winked at him, explaining, "In case you'd like to buy something other than school supplies while you're out today."

"Thanks mum!" The reply was muffled a little as the boy hugged his mother fiercely.

"Alright, alright, come on now, you, let's not keep them all waiting."

**-Q-**

It took Rose a minute to realize she and someone else were lifting up the same book from the stack. They both let go of it at about the same time, and it fell back into the pile with a _thud_.

"Oh, Sorry."

"S-sorry."

They both reached down again, but Rose straightened up when she realized this. The boy, however, continued on his way to the pile, and grasped the book firmly in his pale hands. _Standard Book of Spells: Grade One_.

Rose's nose crinkled towards the top as her eyebrows drew together. She began thinking about how very rude this boy was, for taking the book she'd obviously also been reaching for, and how-

And then there was the pale hand again, holding the book out to her.

"Here. Sorry."

"Oh," Rose said, just loud enough to hear, feeling her own hands wrap around the book.

She watched the boy as he sorted through the sloppily balanced stack of books to find another copy. It was clear from the long line at the register that _Cursive, Quills, and Other Queries _was understaffed that day. Clearly no one had come to straighten up this aisle that day.

Rose had been fixated on the pale color of the boy's hand before, but now her attention was more on his hair. It was too long, she noticed. Not obscenely long, but shaggy. It was a bit wavy, and locks of it swished around as he looked deeper through the stack. She liked the color of it. Very, very light blond, but not to the point where it looked like vanilla yogurt. It was light, but still a little golden. Like the sun's reflection on the surface of a puddle.

The boy straightened up again, apparently after finding another book, and raised his eyebrows at Rose. (They were light blond, too, but slightly darker than his hair.)

"Thank you—for letting me have the book, I mean."

He shrugged, "Sure. You still have to buy it, though. I don't work here or anything."

Rose stood on her tiptoes so that she could see over to the long line at the counter. "Wish you did, that line's gonna take forever, and I still have to get loads of other stuff for school."

"Me too. My Aunt'll be beside herself if I take too long at this store, anyway."

Rose smiled, "My dad's supposed to be watching me, but he got distracted in another store, and I convinced him that I'd just be looking at books for a while."

The two of them stood there, for a moment. Rose on her tippy-toes, the blond boy, just barely taller, able to see the counter across the store without them.

"Well, I think if we hid the books on another shelf for a bit, no one would take our copies."

Rose nodded. "Good idea. Where should we hide them?"

The boy glanced around the large store. "I dunno, if you were going into first year, what section would you least likely go to?"

Rose laughed, "I _am_ going into first year. Aren't you?"

"Yeah. That does make this easier, I suppose," the boy agreed, nodding.

**-Q-**

"Well, probably divination. Or—ooh, _adult romance_. I haven't even _been_ in that aisle, yuck," the girl commented after surveying the store.

"I have," Scorpius admitted. The girl spun around, one eyebrow raised. As she turned, the skirt of her dress swooshed around her, he noticed. It had cute little blue flowers on the ends.

"You _have_? Ew! You didn't _read_ any of it, right?" She wrinkled her nose in disgust.

"Of course not, I was just dared to stand in there and wink at anyone who walked by," he replied, sticking his tongue out at her.

The girl laughed again, and asked, "Did you _really_?"

The truth was, it'd been really scary, and he'd been worried at the time that he'd get kicked out, or the ministry would write down that he was a pervert, or something. But now, he grinned confidently and said, "Yeah, I winked at like five people. _Including_ a few wizards."

"Bet they enjoyed _that_," she murmured, and seemed to laugh again at the thought.

"Oh, I'm sure," Scorpius agreed, beaming. He was about to ask the girl what stores she needed to go to, in case they could go to any together, because she seemed pretty nice, when he realized he didn't know her name.

"Right, I'm Scorpius, by the way," he added, still smiling.

The girl did an elaborate curtsy with her skirt, replying, "Pleasure to meet you. I'm Rose."

"Rose is a nice name," he commented. He meant it, it was only four letters and always spelled the same way, and it made people think of pretty flowers. It'd be a shame if you had a name like Rose and you were really unattractive, though, he thought. So it was probably a gamble naming your kid something like Rose. Luckily for this girl, though, she was perfectly pretty. Not gorgeous, obviously, but he thought she was sort of cute, with her freckles and all.

"Thanks!" she replied brightly, "I like your name, too, it's cool."

Scorpius shook his head, "Nah, not really. It's a family name, those are never cool."

"Yeah really, you sound like some sort of—some sort of _stealthy hero_, or something. Like, _'Ooh, watch out for that Scorpius, he's a wily bastard.'_"

There was something incredibly brilliant about the voice she used when she described him that made Scorpius burst into laughter.

**-Q-**

"So, Scorpius, where're you off to, then?" Rose asked when she saw his laughter was dying down.

"I dunno, haven't really gotten any shopping done except for _robe-shopping_." He dragged out the last two words so that it was clear he'd suffered through the experience, and Rose giggled.

"I haven't gone yet, but my cousin Victoire's taking me later this week. I haven't really bought much else, either."

"D'you have an owl?"

"Yeah! I got a barn owl named Stroud for my birthday in May," Rose answered enthusiastically. "He's got this thing where he likes to steal buttons—but he's mostly pretty cool. Do you?"

The boy shook his head, shaggy blond locks bobbing again. "Nah, not yet. We could—oh, I just realized," his face fell.

"What?"

Rose watched, confused, as the boy frowned at her, "My Aunt's got all my money for school things."

"Oh," now Rose frowned, too. She'd been looking forward to helping pick out an owl.

"But, I do have some pocket money? So, we could get ice cream, or something?" Rose's face lit up at this. "But—I mean—I'll understand if you'd rather just-"

"Ice cream sounds _great_!" Rose interrupted, grinning. Sure, she had other things to buy, but she'd be there all day, and she was positive her father would be in that Quidditch store for hours.

"But, really, if you'd rather get shopping done, I mean, we only just met, so I won't-"

Rose rolled her eyes and stopped the blond from continuing by grabbing one of his pale hands and dragging him off with her.

"The doors the other way," the boy pointed out, confused. He didn't struggle at Rose tugged him along behind her, though.

"I know," she announced loudly, "We're going to the _adult romance _section."

**-Q-**

She said this, perhaps, a bit too loudly. A group of witches they were passing by gave them a mix of curious and condemning looks. Scorpius noticed this and began laughing as soon as they were out of earshot of the witches.

"What?" she asked, stopping to turn around and face him. He noticed she hadn't let go of his hand yet, but he didn't mention it.

"You—you said that quite loudly, Rose. I think we gave some witches the wrong idea."

To his surprise, she grinned, "Good, they'll wonder what on earth we were up to."

"Good?"

"We just made their day interesting!" she announced, then turned around again, still with a hold on his hand, and skipped in the direction of the adult romance novels.

Scorpius had to practically skip himself to keep up, but he didn't mind. He was wearing muggle-like clothes today. It was relatively commonplace, these days, for children to wear muggle-clothes. His mother didn't mind when he did, and his father practically encouraged it, but his Aunt disapproved. Naturally, he'd worn his jeans and jumper with that in mind.

Finally, they arrived in the right aisle. There were lots of ridiculous and lewd pictures painted in glittering ink across the covers, and more than half the books reeked of various perfumes.

"I think I'm going to hide my copy behind _Mafilda's Favourite Wand_," Rose announced. It was a funny site to see her take the book down—it was one with a particularly busty witch scrawled on the cover—and hold onto it. It looked completely wrong in the hands of such a small girl. Maybe it was just the fact that her hair was in curly auburn pigtails, and she had a little blue sun-dress on, but the contrast was so great it causes Scorpius to laugh.

After she'd hidden her book successfully, Scorpius looked around for the lucky book that would hide his own. Finally, he settled on one with no illustration, but a ridiculously long title and the scent of an entire garden dipped in cinnamon.

"I'll hide mine behind _Sir Kippennet's Many Wild, Vivacious Dreams and Witches_," Scorpius said, placing his _Standard Book of Spells: Grade One_ on the shelf. Before putting the other book in front of it, he held it up to show Rose.

"This, ma'am, is a _classic_ piece of literature. I _do_ hope you've read it," he said solemnly, then placed it back on the shelf to the sound of Rose's giggles.

**-Q-**

Rose and Scorpius got a little lost on their way to the ice cream shop and ended up in the magical menagerie. They ended up picking out an owl after all, even though Scorpius couldn't buy it yet, they decided whenever they met up with his Aunt they'd return and pay for Loki (the name they'd given to the massive black owl, who looked so sinister that they fell instantly in love with him).

When they finally did reach the ice cream, shop, though, they bought their ice cream quickly and went to sit at one of the many little black tables set outside _Killifrey's Creamerie._

Scorpius happily put a spoonful of caramel butterscotch swirl in his mouth just as Rose asked, "So, you're going to Hogwarts too, this year?"

Unable to respond with ice cream in his mouth, Scorpius nodded.

"Sweet," Rose murmured, grinning, "We'd better be in the same house."

Scorpius nodded again. "What house do you think you'll be in?" he asked.

"Hmm..." Rose licked her ice cream cone thoughtfully. She'd taken a little longer to order hers because she couldn't decide between several elaborate flavors. Then, she'd just chosen chocolate. Scorpius had laughed, and told her she had Kotov Syndrome (which he had to then explain, because she thought he'd called her mental).

After a moment or two of thought, Rose replied, "I dunno. I don't think I'm very sneaky, so probably not Slytherin. And I'm really smart, so probably not Ravenclaw. I'm not particularly brave or hardworking, you know? So, Gryffindor and Hufflepuff are out." She shrugged, but didn't look too upset about having no idea.

"I dunno where I'll be, either, probably not Hufflepuff-"

"You could be in Hufflepuff! I think you're really nice," Rose interrupted.

"I guess. But, Ravenclaw, there's no way-"

"You knew what Kotoz Syndrome was!"

"I just like chess, it all. Slytherin, I dunno-"

"It was your idea to hide the books!"

"And Gryffindor-"

"You introduced yourself, all outgoing like!"

There was a pause, during which both children ate a bit more of their ice cream.

After a while, Scorpius concluded, with a grin, "So, looks like I'm going to be in every house, and you won't be in any, according to you."

Rose nodded. "Yup, that's my verdict."

Scorpius gave an exaggerated sigh, "And there's no changing your mind, I suppose?"

"No way at _all_."

"Well, I guess that's it then. If I'm everywhere, and you're nowhere, there's no way we'll be together," sighing again, he added, "_Shame_."

Rose laughed. "Fine, you got me, I'll just sneak into one of your many houses."

"_Sneak_, you say? So it'll be Slytherin, then, Rose?"

"Rose? Rose!" Rose turned around, abruptly to see her younger brother running toward her.

She wasn't quite sure how to react, and Scorpius sat there, silent, so he was hardly helping.

"Rose!" the younger boy called again, this time only a few feet away. "Where's Dad? I need to ask him if I can get an owl! Mum said I have to ask him."

"Um, the quidditch supply store, I think."

Her brother shook his head, "Nope, he's not in there, I already checked." Rose felt something catch in her chest. He wasn't in there?

"Oh. I, er, we got separated."

Her brother raised his eyebrows in disbelief. Then, he looked from Rose to Scorpius and back again. A grin spread wide across his face.

"Ooh, you ran away with a _boy_? Rose you're _sooo_ dead! Dad's gonna _kill_ you!" he paused, then added, "Can I have your owl?"

Rose pinched his arm and he cried out. "I am _not_ dead, because Dad is _not_ gonna find out, understand?"

"Yeah, right! And why shouldn't I tell, huh?"

Rose had forgotten Scorpius was even there, until suddenly she realized he was standing beside her.

"_Because_, kid, Rose didn't run away, I _took_ her. I've got dark magic."

Rose tried not to laugh as Hugo's eyes grew wide for a moment. Then he glared at Scorpius.

"Oh? Prove it."

"Fine, watch this," Scorpius murmured. He turned to Rose, grinning, and pointed his hand at her. "_Tripperus_!"

Rose fell back against the ground suddenly, as if she'd been pushed. Naturally, this was her own doing, but her brother, it seemed, didn't realize this.

"Whoa! How'd you _do_ that?"

"Dark magic," Scorpius said with a smirk, "So you better watch out. If you tell anyone I stole your sister today, I mean anyone, I'll come after you."

"And _what_?" Hugo's brown eyes were huge.

"And curse you so that any owl you own dies right away."

Hugo gasped. "F-fine, I won't tell! Can—can I just have Rose back, now?"

Scorpius pointed at Rose, who was laying on the ground trying to neither laugh nor drop her icecream, and shouted, "_Standicus upperatis_!"

Rose got to her feet, making what she considered to be a creepy smile face.

"What's wrong with her?" Hugo grabbed her arm, "What'd you _do_ with her?"

Scorpius grinned, "She's fine. In fact, in five minutes she'll forget this ever happened, and be convinced that she went looking for her dad in the quidditch supply store the _exact_ moment he must have left it for the book store."

Then, feeling a little guilty, Scorpius handed the cup of ice cream to the younger boy, he said, "_You_ bought this, understand?"

Hugo nodded. "Is it poison?"

"Actually, it's caramel butterscotch swirl."

Hugo studied the ice cream for a moment, then proceeded to shovel it into his mouth.

Smiling again, Scorpius waved to Rose. "Bye, Rose, nice to steal you!"

"_Farewell, master_!" Rose called back in her best I've-been-possessed voice.

When Scorpius was out of sight, Hugo mumbled bitterly, "No one ever kidnaps _me_ and treats me to ice cream."

**-X-**


	3. Staring

Disclaimer: _Harry Potter is the property of J.K. Rowling. I am in no way affiliated with her. This is not a profitable work. No copyright infringement is intended. I acknowledge, also, Ms. Rowling's ownership of several scraps of dialogue found in this piece, quoted from her seventh novel._

**Chapter Three: Staring**

Rose shifted in her robes, feeling a little down. "These robes are itchy," she muttered for about the fifth time. They felt fine, of course, but she'd decided that morning that they felt itchy. She was only shifting about because her robes were itchy, after all, it couldn't be that she was nervous to go to school. Why should she be nervous? She'd been waiting for this all her life! Well, at least, she'd been waiting for it since James got to go. But that'd been two very long years ago.

"Look, there they are," Rose's mother commented to the man beside her, pointing. Rose could see hardly anything in the mist, though, and so she wasn't sure where 'they' were until one of them spoke to her.

"Hi." It was Albus, her favourite cousin. Rose beamed, forgetting for a moment how itchy her robes were.

"Hi!" she greeted back, running up to him. She glanced over at her parents, who were now talking to his parents, and remembered again how itchy her robes were, leaving home, but she quickly turned back to Albus and added, "Excited?"

"Yeah! Bit—well, you know, bit nervous, too. James was saying—well, he was talking about houses."

"I'm going to be in Ravenclaw!" Hugo piped in. Until then, Rose had forgotten he'd been standing beside her. It irritated her, even though she knew it shouldn't. Albus was too nice, he was always listening to Hugo babbling on about stupid kid stuff, and he never said no when Hugo asked him to play. Albus was _her_ favourite cousin, after all.

There was a sniffle from behind Albus, and a little voice piped up, "I want to be with you, Hughie."

Lily was the only one who got away with calling Hugo 'Hughie.' Anyone else and he'd have a fit. So, naturally, it was the only thing James called him. Rose glanced over at their mothers and wondered where James could be.

Then, her father reappeared and announced, "If you're not in Gryffindor, we'll disinherit you, but no pressure."

Rose looked over at Albus, who glanced uneasily back. Her mother said something consoling, but Rose ignored it, her mind filling with the possibility of being in Slytherin, or Hufflepuff, or somewhere.

"Look who it is."

Rose quickly regarded his father, then followed his eyes to some fifty yard away, where three people stood. A man, a woman, and a child who was unmistakably their son.

It was hard to see exactly from so far away, but Rose thought the boy looked awfully familiar. He looked like she boy she'd met at Diagon Alley the week before, but the boy on the platform had gross hair. It was perfectly straight and slicked back, fitting to his head, not at all like the floppy blond hair she'd been admiring in the book store. Maybe the two were related? Or, more likely, the boy'd received some sort of hex that gave you a ridiculous haircut. The man's haircut was bizarre, too, but Rose sort of liked the mother's hair. It was dirty blond and curly, tied back in a regal bun.

"So that's little Scorpius."

Rose's attention was on her father again. Scorpius. So it was the boy she'd met. How did her father know him?

"Make sure you beat him in every test, Rosie. Thank God you inherited your mother's brains."

Rose glanced at Albus, confused, but he didn't seem to know what they were talking about any more than she did.

"Ron, for heaven's sake. Don't try to turn them against each other before they've even started school!" Rose and Albus exchanged another uneasy glance.

"You're right, sorry!" Surely it couldn't be too serious, though, if her parents were discussing it so lightly. Rose's father looked over at her and added, "Don't get too friendly with him, though, Rosie. Grandad Weasley would never forgive you if you married a pureblood."

James appeared, and though Rose was happy to see him, she turned instead to Albus, and the two of them walked a little ways away from the group, and closer to the train.

"Al? What if I'm already friendly with him?"

Albus tilted his head, "What d'you mean? You're not really going to marry him, are you?"  
"Not like _that_," Rose said, shifting in her robes again. "All I meant was, say we did meet, and we were _just_ friendly, d'you reckon my Dad 'd actually be mad?"

` Albus shrugged. "Probably not. He didn't seem too serious. What house do you think you'll be in, by the way?"

Now Rose shrugged, mimicking his motion.

"It's nearly eleven, you'd better get on board," they heard one of the adults say. Rose glanced around for her trunk, and realized her father and uncle must've already put it inside. She looked down the stretch of the platform again, straining her eyes to see through the mist, and caught sight of the family of three from before.

She watched them for a minute. They were some of the last people on the platform, too. The mother, with the hair Rose approved of, was bending down talking to the boy, who was jerking out of the way of her kisses. Finally, before getting on board, the boy turned towards her.

Glancing for a moment at her father, then back at the boy, Rose waved enthusiastically at him. He waved back, and the man with him glanced in her direction. Rose decided to wave at him, too, for good measure. The man nodded his head to her after a moment of hesitation, then turned away to speak to the boy.

"Rosie? Promise you'll write?"

Rose glanced up at her mother, who she hadn't notice walk over to her.

"Of _course_ mum, I'll write _every_ day!" Her mother leaned down for a hug, and Rose whispered in her ear, "Send me books?"

Pulling back, but now holding one of Rose's hands, her mother beamed. "Hogwarts has a whole library, Rose."

"Yeah, mum, but ours is _huge_."

"This one is much, _much_ bigger." Her father snickered at this, and her mother elbowed him.

Then, he leaned down and hugged Rose, too. Rose hugged him a little tighter and for a little longer. She loved both her parents, of course, but her dad was the fun one, and you always miss the fun one a little more. He kissed her cheek, then straightened up.

"Bye, Daddy," she said, beaming. She felt like her whole body was being powered by electricity. Her chest held fireworks. She was _really_ going.

"Bye, Rosie. If you need anything, just write, and Neville will be there. Don't bother Peeves, and don't say anything rude about prefects while they're standing around. Don't accept necklaces from anyone you don't know personally, and don't trust anything if you can't see where it keeps it's brain, alright?"

Rose nodded, laughing. Then, after one last hug from her mother, Rose leapt onto the train and was quickly followed by Albus.

They entered the nearest compartment and stuck their heads out the windows, like the compartment's other two occupants, to look at their parents. It was then that they noticed that the other two occupants were _also_ looking at _their_ parents. So was nearly everyone left on the platform. Rose craned her neck to get a good look at the other students along the side of the train, who were looking at them as well.

"Why are they all _staring_?" Albus demanded.

"Don't let it worry you. It's me, I'm extremely famous." Rose laughed and felt her chest tighten as she watched her father begin to slip away.

"Bye, Rosie!" her brother called, suddenly waving at her with vigor.

Grinning, she replied, "Bye, Hughie!" and slumped into the seat beside her.

**-X-**

Note: _So, there you are, you're classic, overdone platform scene, the cliché epilogue-rehash. But, it is sort of essential to the story. I could've told it from Scorpius' perspective, to liven things up, and maybe that would've been better, but I wanted to introduce Albus a little._

_ Anyway, really hope you liked it. (If you didn't, tell me why! C:) Thanks for reading!_


	4. Blessings

Disclaimer:_Harry Potter is the property of J.K. Rowling. I am in no way affiliated with her. This is not a profitable work. No copyright infringement is intended._

**Chapter Four; Blessings**

Scorpius got on the train later than most students, and discovered fairly quickly that this had been a mistake. Nearly every compartment was full.

He had reached the last few compartments when he finally found one that only contained a few students.

"Hi, mind if I join you?" the words sounded foreign in his mouth after being uttered so many times already.

A boy had risen when he'd opened the door. He was a few inches taller than Scorpius, and his skin was many shades darker. His hair fell around his face in slick black curls.

"Yeah, sure," the darker boy murmured, smiling easy and taking a step back to allow him in. His eyes were a peculiar shade of green, and his nose was a little to broad. His upper lip was thinner than his lower lip. Overall, though, the boy could be described as pretty. Scorpius nearly made this comment out loud, but opted instead to offer his hand to the boy.

"Thanks. I'm Scorpius."

"Nice to mee'chu. I'm Salaam," the boy replied, shaking his hand quickly, then returning to his seat. Now Scorpius could see the entire compartment, and he found himself studying its other occupants.

Next to Salaam sat a petite girl in a red jumper, her chocolate hair pinned into a tight little ponytail. She was dabbing her eyes with a handkerchief, but tried to smile at Scorpius anyway when he caught her eye.

"I-I'm Olivia. Olivia M-McLaggen," she introduced. Scorpius nodded politely to her then turned to see who was sitting on the other side.

"Hi, Scorpius!" a girl with dark red hair, also wearing her Hogwarts robes, beamed at him from beside the window. Scorpius found himself grinning, glad to see someone he recognized and liked. (He'd seen Vinny Goyle at an earlier compartment and was glad to find it full.)

"Oh, hi, Rose!"

"You _do_ know him?" the boy sitting next to Rose murmured a little too loudly. Salaam snorted at this. Rose ignored the boy beside her and continued to grin broadly at Scorpius as he pushed his trunk up over their heads. The boy next to her eyed the trunk nervously.

Scorpius stood for a moment, glancing at the compartment in full. On the one side, there was weepy Olive, and friendly Salaam, on the other there was awesome Rose, and boy-who-clearly-disapproved-of-Scorpius-and-was-yet-to-be-named. After a moment of hesitation, Scorpius sat down beside Salaam.

Which meant that now, he was facing that boy next to Rose. After a moment of studying one another, the boy decided to introduce himself. "I'm Albus."

"Like Albus Dumbledore?" Salaam asked, clearly trying desperately not to smirk.

"Yeah."

Salaam looked like he was going to say something unpleasant, so Scorpius quickly chimed in before he could. "Cool. I've got a frog card of him."

"Me too, I've got dozens," sniffed the girl called Olivia McLaggen.

Scorpius leaned across Salaam to get a better look at her, tilting his head. "Why're you crying?" he asked.

The girl sniffed again, and the others silently glanced from her to him and back again. They were trying to see if they could detect any malice in Scorpius' words, and wondered if Olivia would.

"I—I won't see my mum t—till _Christmas_," the girl admitted, finally, lower lip trembling.

"You could write her?" Rose suggested brightly.

"M—my sister said you c—_can't_ send owls from Hogwarts, or people would kn—know where it was."

"That's not true," the Albus Dumbledore II corrected. "My brother got mail three times a week last year." Rose snickered at this.

"O—oh." Olivia smiled into her handkerchief and seemed a bit less teary after that.

The compartment was silent for a moment, before there was a _hoot_.

Salaam glanced around at the others and asked, with great interest, "D'you have an owl?"

Albus and Rose nodded along with Scorpius. Olivia didn't respond, folding up her handkerchief into a neat little square.

Before Salaam could add anything, Rose turned suddenly to Scorpius and asked, eyes wide, "Did you get Loki?"

Scorpius nodded, grinning. "Yeah! Wanna see him?"

Rose and Salaam said 'Yes' the same moment Olivia said 'No.' Everyone turned to look at her.

"I—I'm scared of owls," she confessed, head dropping down. She looked very close to tears again.

"How d'you receive you mail, then?" Salaam asked, raising an eyebrow. He was smiling a little, but it didn't seem to Scorpius like a happy smile.

"She has her mum get it for her, _obviously_," Rose said, casting a dirty look at Salaam. Olivia sniffed across from her, and Rose took her hand.

"_Whatever_," Salaam muttered, then turned to Scorpius and Albus. "So, what house d'you guys think you'll be in?"

Albus suddenly became determined to estimate the exact thread-count of the carpet. "Dunno," he muttered, "Hopefully not Slytherin."

"Why not?" Scorpius asked, eyebrows raised, "My dad was in Slytherin. Mum was in Ravenclaw, though."

"_My_ pap was Slytherin, too," Salaam announced defensively. Then, as an afterthought, he added, "Mam was in Gryffindor, though."

"My sister said Slytherins and G-gryffindors weren't allowed to get m-married," Olivia said quietly, eyebrows knitted together in confusion.

"Some sister you have," scoffed Salaam.

"My brother said Slytherins were evil," Albus noted quietly, and with a queer sort of detatchment.

"Oh, your brothers always lying," Rose said, rolling her eyes.

"Not always!" Albus protested, looking up from the carpet with a sullen pout.

Scorpius glanced from Albus to Rose. He didn't see much of a resemblance. Albus had a thin face, very dark brown hair, and bright green eyes. Rose had a long face, too, he supposed, but not as long, and blue eyes. They both had freckles, though.

"Are you two related?" he asked.

Rose nodded. "Cousins." That made sense, they didn't look enough alike to be brother and sister.

"I thought so," muttered Salaam, though Scorpius doubted very much that this was true.

"I'm going to be in Gryffindor," Olivia announced suddenly from the corner.

"Why's that?" Salaam asked, eyebrow raised again.

"Because I'm brave, obviously," she sniffed.

Scorpius snorted unintentionally and Olivia whipped around in his direction, wide-eyes daring him to explain himself.

"Bless you!" Rose hastily called.

Albus coughed into the crook of his elbow in a way that sounded suspiciously like a snicker.

"Ah, bless you," Salaam echoed with a smirk.

Realizing that he was being covered for, and glad to take the opportunity, Scorpius murmured, "Thanks," then glanced over at Olivia, who looked suspicious. "Have any other handkerchiefs?" he asked pleasantly.

She shook her head, looking a little more at ease.

"I wouldn't mind being in Ravenclaw," Salaam drawled into the silence, "Neither of my parents went there, but I think it'd be great to be able to go through life being labeled 'smarter than three out of four people,' yeah?"

"Either that or three out of four people are braver, kinder, and more ambitious than you," Scorpius said, trying to keep a straight face. Where he succeeded Rose failed, and Albus 'coughed' into his elbow again.

Salaam's dark curls bounced as his head whipped around and he glared at freckled boy. "Coming down with something?" he asked with something that sounded very little like concern.

Scorpius smirked. "Well, _I_ am, that's for sure. Can't stop sneezing." He did a very unconvincing fake sneeze for emphasis.

Rose giggled again, and Olivia took out a tin of Fruit Newts. Salaam stopped glaring at Albus and glanced over at the tin.

"We sharing?" he asked, and pulled out a bag of Bertie Bott's. "I can trade, if you'd like."

"That's alright," Olivia said, wrinkling her nose, "I _always_ get pavement flavoured."

"_No way_, me too!" Scorpius lied with exaggerated shock. Olivia positively beamed at him, not noticing Rose snicker acorss from her. Then, he turned to Salaam, and added somberly, "I rather like pavement, though. Could I have one?"

Salaam held out the bag to him, a smirk playing across his lips.

**-X-**

Note: _I know, I know, short and overdue. I'm horrible. I just... gah, train-rides are always hard for me, so I wanted to get it right. Next chapter will be a bit on the train, then on to sorting and all. Honestly, though, the next chapter will actually tuly for realsies be up soon. I'm reallyreally sorry it's taken forever, hope you forgive me and enjoy the chapter! Thanks for reading! Also, happy Spring!_


	5. Tables

Disclaimer:_Harry Potter is the property of J.K. Rowling. I am in no way affiliated with her. This is not a profitable work. No copyright infringement is intended._

**Chapter Five; Tables**

Scorpius leaned against the window, half annoyed by the way it numbed his cheek, half enamored with it. After everyone had taken out their treats, and traded, and put their treats away again, discussion had turned to debate. Originally it was over which house was best, then somehow it shifted over to Goblin's rights. Seeing as none of them really knew much about Goblin's rights, that debate fizzled away after everyone had repeated everything they could remember about it.

Everyone changed seating a few times, because Olivia had had to change, and then they had an exploding snap tournament. In fact, Rose and Salaam were still playing the final round, but it'd been going on for ages and the rest of the compartment's occupants had grown thoroughly disenchanted with the thing.

Scorpius had taken to trying to sort everyone else in his head. Olivia was easy, definitely Hufflepuff. Salaam seemed sort of Slytherin-y to Scorpius, but he could really picture the boy anywhere except for Hufflepuff. Which was probably lucky for Olivia.

Rose was still hard, though. He could see her in any house, really. Moreso the more he'd spoken with her.

Albus he still felt like be barely knew, because he didn't contribute too much to the conversation. Hufflepuff, maybe? He seemed sort of bookish, though, so maybe Ravenclaw. Probably not Slytherin, as he'd displayed a lack of tact a number of times, but Scorpius didn't really consider himself an expert.

"I think we're nearly there," Olivia announced from next to Scorpius, sitting up in her seat. He'd forgotten that she was there, having ruled her out in his little sorting game so early on. Suddenly, his right felt chilly, and he turned to see what it was before he realized that Olivia had been keeping him warm in her earlier position. He quickly glanced up at his trunk, feeling his cheeks burn. When he looked down again in what he'd thought was a casual way, he saw Rose raising her eyebrows at his pink cheeks (which, naturally, made them burn even _more_) and stuck out his tongue at her.

"Yeah, I thought we were getting close," Salaam agreed quietly.

"Yeah, me too. Definitely getting that vibe, myself," Scorpius added, his impression of Salaam frighteningly accurate. Immediately the boy turned to shoot him a glare, but its harshness was lost in the following attempt to deliver the same glare to Rose and Albus at once when he heard their poorly veiled laughter.

For the first time since the candy trolley came 'round, they heard a voice not belonging to any of the five of them. It had a forced pleasantness and formality that could only belong to an adult as it echoed through the train: "We will reach Hogwarts in just five minutes. Please do leave any luggage on the train, for it will be taken to the school separately. Thank you."

Olivia's lower lip trembled as she stood up and looked at her trunk. Scorpius saw tears forming in her eyes and opened his mouth to say something, but Rose beat him to it.

"Don't worry, they're really careful with everyone's things. They make sure to be very exact so that nothing gets mixed up."

Albus began to say something about his brother again when Rose jabbed her elbow into his ribcage, which silenced him at once.

**-Q-**

Rose didn't often find herself upset that she only had two hands, but today was her first day of school and things were bound to be different.

As she was pushed along with the crowd, she clutched Albus's hand desperately in her's, though it was growing difficult to stay together are more and more people seemed to shift between them. Olivia, however, was right up next to Rose the entire time, holding ridiculously onto her other hand. Rose cast an anxious glance behind her, and found that Scorpius had still not surfaced. Since both of her hands were already taken, they'd drifted apart after leaving the compartment.

As the train, which had been slowing gradually, finally came to a stop, Rose found herself and her two companions pushed forward and out the door. She nearly fell over onto the vast, dark platform in front of her, but steadied herself just in time.

Two witches and a wizard stood some distance away along the platform, their wands alight in the air, calling for first years.

"That's us!" Olivia squealed, and took towards them at a run. Rose would have preferred to try to find more of her cousins, or her friend Scorpius, before going directly in the school, but with Olivia's firm grip on her hand left little choice.

A fleeting swear was heard from Albus as they ran along behind Olivia, too excited to remember that the link between them was no longer necessary.

"First years, this way!" the tallest witch called, turning towards a vast area of darkness Rose gathered to be trees. Finally releasing Albus's hand after managing to escape Olivia's, Rose walked carefully behind the first witch. The ground was a bit slippery and rocky in places, and sloped violently most of the time, but Rose managed to stay upright most of the time. The boy with sandy blond hair, however, fell flat on his face to her right. There was a sort of squishing sound from the mud, and she has to suppress the mad giggle that only seemed to grow as the realized how rude it would be.

Letting Albus pass her, she waited for the boy to get his face out of the mud before leaning down and offering a hand. "You alright?" she asked. Her voice seemed louder now that they were away from the platform. With only the first years around her, there was little conversation aside from the occasional grumbling of people who'd slipped.

The boy sat up and wiped his muddy hand on his cloak before taking her's and pulling himself up. He then proceeded to wipe his face on his cloak, and shake his hair out in a way that reminded Rose fondly of her mother's kneazle, Chamberlin.

"Thanks, mate," the boy murmured, flashing her a crooked smile. Looking down, he seemed to realize he still had her hand, and shook it promptly before releasing it as they began to move with the group again. "Arthur Ludlow," he introduced brightly.

"Rose Weasley," she replied with a smile. She would've said something else, but the warmth that'd arrived with Arthur's smile quickly froze away. Her robes were becoming itchy again, and she shifted the hem of her shirt around as she walked.

"You'll see Hogwarts in a moment," called the grown wizard from somewhere behind Rose. "It's just past this last turn."

A few seconds later, there were gasps, and a collective "Ooooh." Rose prided herself in that fact that _she_ hadn't _ooh_ed. Instead, her natural instinct has been to _aah_. The sandy haired boy shot her a grin when he noticed this as well.

The group had stopped in front of a massive, dark lake. Or, at least, Rose figured it was a lake. There was hardly any moon out, so it was incredibly dark. There were a bunch of boats floating along the edge, though, so if it wasn't a lake Rose hoped it was something close.

"Four to a boat, there's enough for everyone."

The sandy haired boy turned to Rose, still grinning crookedly, "Wanna be boat-buddies, Rose Weasley?" he asked. Rose glanced around, but it seemed she'd lost Albus, and Scorpius was still out of sight. To her admitted pleasure, though, Olivia wasn't visible either.

"Sure," she answered quickly with a broad smile, not wanting to seem insincere.

"Sweet!" he announced gleefully, then turned suddenly to his left and pointed grandly at the boat farthest to the left, "That's our boat, so we'd better get to it 'fore someone tries to steal it."

"They _would_ try to steal it," Rose agreed as they jogged toward it, "Everyone is clearly quite jealous of our boat."

"Clearly!" the boy agreed, shaking some shaggy blond hair out of his face when they stopped at the small boat. Rose sat towards the back of the boat, and the boy sat opposite her. Soon after someone else climbed in.

"Got kicked out of my last boat, we had too many," the girl explained hastily, plopping herself down beside Arthur. Rose wondered why the girl hadn't just sat with her, as she was closer, but didn't have time to question it before the girl introduced herself.

"Right, sorry, I'm Kepla, by the way. Kepla Redquill." She offered her hand, and Rose shook it first, then Arthur.

"Cool name! I'm Rose." The girl gave her a small smile.

"Yeah, sounds like an auror name, or something," Arthur agreed, "Oh-and I'm Arthur Ludlow."

The girl's smile broadened considerably as she replied, "Well, Arthur's a pretty great name, too. Sounds all classic, like a prince." Rose frowned a little. Sure, Arthur _was_ a nice name, but what was wrong with Rose?

Blue eyes narrowing slightly, Rose studied the girl diagonal from her. She had shiny dark brown hair and big gray eyes with eyelashes like you see in Witch Weekly. Honestly, she was quite pretty, but Rose wanted her to be ugly. She wasn't sure why, but she just knew that the girl would be better if she were ugly. Or just a little less pretty.

Rose was glad for the distraction when yet another person climbed into the boat and sat alongside her.

"Mind if I ride with you guys?"

"Not at all! You're just in time for our expedition!" Arthur exclaimed with a broad grin. Rose began giggling at precisely the same time as Kepla, but Kelpa's giggle lasted for a full minute longer. Or maybe a few seconds. Either one.

The boy beside her seemed puzzled. "What are you excadating?" he asked, eyebrows drawn together.

Kepla smiled sweetly and said, "No, no, it's ex_pedition._ It's when you go to explore someplace, looking for something."

Seeing the boy's cheeks rapidly approach red, Rose added, "It's alright, I thought he said _excavation_, too; that's why I giggled." The boy shot her a grateful smile. Although surely no one believed her lie, Rose was sure it had been necessary. For a moment, she wondered why that was, but then the grown-up wizard was shouting from a ways away.

"Everyone is to keep their appendages inside the boat at all times; this water is not safe to drink. Right. Now, _forward_!" The little boats jerked forward, then began to glide smoothly across the surface of the porbably-a-lake.

"Oh, so that's how they move without oars—I was wondering," the boy muttered beside her. The pretty girl smiled unpleasantly, and Rose was secretly pleased to find that this did make her face look rather ugly.

Arthur glanced at Kepla, then looked to Rose for explanation. Rose only shrugged, an action that the sandy blond returned before grinning again and telling the boy across from him, "I probably would have told you before, if you had asked. I'm moving all of these boats with my wand."

"You're hands are empty!" Kepla insisted, giggling madly.

Arthur held them up to confirm this, then shot Rose a grin and explained, "Of course they are. If my enemies can see my wand, they can take it away. Therefore I conceal it when I perform petty tasks such as transporting the entire year across this lake."

"It's not a lake," Rose corrected, grinning.

"It's not?" the boy beside her looked suddenly alarmed and scooting away from the edge.

"It is _to_ a lake, silly," Kepla insisted, rolling her eyes at Rose.

"No it isn't. It's just a massive puddle," Rose replied, trying not to frown at the girl.

"Same thing, isn't it?" she asked.

"Why, no, they're completely different! I'm shocked you didn't know!" Arthur chimed in. Kepla turned to him, something akin to betrayal upon her face. He proceeded to cast Rose another confused glance, which, this time, she ignored.

"You see, a lake starts off as a lake—or a glacier, or whatever. A massive puddle starts out as a small puddle. This one, in particular, was turned massive by the dragon who lives in that castle."

"There are _dragons_?"

Kepla then gave a long and exhausting lecture on dragons, seemingly unbothered by the fact that Arthur and Rose had long stopped listening and were passing the time making faces at each other across the boat. It was probably enough that the boy (who somewhere along the way introduced himself as Edgar Lawrence, and explained that he was muggleborn) was hanging on her every word.

"Everyone, please duck down immediately, no one is to remain in an upright position!" someone announced, and the girl became silent as everyone bent down.

A mass of ivy hung above them. Rose discovered this by lying down on the bottom of the boat and looking up, and promptly informed the rest of it's occupants. She'd just managed to sit upright again when the little fleet of boats entered a dark tunnel.

"We're right underneath the dragon now, I gamble," Arthur whispered as they were carried through, "Can you hear him breathing?" Both Kelpa and Edgar answered No at the same time, but Rose just nodded and grinned.

Finally the boats came to a stop as they docked in little harbor, light up by floating lanterns.

"Everyone, out of the boats. This way up to the castle."

"I thought we were under it," Rose heard someone mutter as she climbed out of the little boat.

Beside her, Arthur sighed sadly. "And so ends the maiden voyage of the _H.M.S. Behemoth_." Rose patted his arm sympathetically, and thought she saw Kelpa glaring at her out of the corner of her eye.

"This way," someone called again, and Rose was separated from her boat-buddies in the crowd.

**-Q-**

Scorpius skipped up the stone steps two at a time. Somewhere along the boat ride it finally struck him that he was going to Hogwarts, and whatever energy he'd lost towards the end of the train ride returned to him sevenfold.

While the three adults counted students, everyone waited quietly outside the large, wood front door. After a few moments, one of the witches stepped forward and raised her wand to the door, producing three great knocking sounds. Immediately, the door swung open.

Standing just beyond it was a tall, narrow-shouldered witch with fine golden hair knotted up in a brilliant tangle of purple crystal beads. She had a narrow face, with very defined cheekbones and a sharp nose, but she smiled at the students in a way that Scorpius could only describe as prettily. She nodded pleasantly to one of the witches, and then the three who'd brought them all the way wandered back down the steps. Scorpius turned to try to see where they'd gone, but there were several heads in his way.

Glancing at his fellow students, Scorpius wondered why they were all to entranced by the witch, not one of them noticing his gaze. He turned again to find what they were all actually looking at. The room the witch was standing in was by far the most magnificent Scorpius had ever seen. It wasn't even worth comparing to the tiny rooms back home at his cottage, not even the dining room, which he'd always considered enormous. This hall could fit dozens of dining rooms, especially if they were stacked atop one another.

"Alright, all of you, follow me," the witch lead them away from the grand room and into an empty across the hall. Scorpius was disappointed, and considered turning back but was unable to move against the crowd.

"Now that we're all snug," the witch grinned as the vast space between her and the first line of students, behind which everyone was uncomfortably close, "Welcome to Hogwarts!"

Someone called out, "Thanks, ma'am!" and there was a pattering of nervous laughter. Scorpius just smiled.

"You're welcome!" the witch returned brightly before continuing, "I'm Professor Derin, by the way. I teach divination, so none of you will have me till next year, but I'm sure none of you can wait. Anyway, the start-of-term feast will start soon, but before you can sit down for that, you need to know where to sit. That's decided by what house your in. To decide where you are, we'll perform a sorting ceremony. It's nothing to worry about, and it doesn't hurt a bit—actually, it's quite fun. You see, your house will be a bit like your family, here at Hogwarts. You'll have class according to house, and sleep in the house dormitory, and share a house common room. Of course, you'll get to see other houses plenty, but you stick together a lot of the time.

"There are four houses: Hufflepuff, Slytherin, Ravenclaw, and Gryffindor. Each house has it's own distinguished history, and has hosted many of the finest witches and wizards. There is a competition between houses that takes place every year, called the house cup. Teacher will reward points to your house when you do well, and remove points when you behave poorly. I'm sure all of you will do only good things, though, right? Right. You do look like a good bunch.

"Anyway, the sorting ceremony will begin in a few minutes in front of the rest of the school. Try not to look so nervous, though. Remember, every witch and wizard in that room has been sorted, and they're all well and fine, and any house will be happy to have you."

It had never occurred to Scorpius that a house might reject him until the golden haired witch suggested it. Had people been kicked out before, or something? The more he thought about it, the more the houses sounded like teams. They were all competing for the house cup, right? They'd want to pick whoever looked like they'd do the best, earn them the most points. But how was Scorpius supposed to figure out what _that_ looked like? And did he even want to be in a house that picked based on looks?

"I'll be back in a little while when everything's ready, so please wait quietly."

Scorpius watched as the witch exited the chamber and wanted to follow her. He probably shouldn't get himself into trouble, though, on the first day. His father would be disappointed...

"Hey, Scorpius!" Scorpius turned to his left to see Rose's cousin, Albus, smiling shyly at him. The smile was rather forced, and the boy was looking a bit paler than was healthy. "Have you seen Rose?" he asked.

Scorpius shook his head no, "Sorry."

"Oh, that's alright, I was just wondering." It didn't look alright, though. The boy was practically shaking.

"Yeah. I'm sure she's doing alright, she knows there's nothing to be nervous about," Scorpius said, nodding vaguely. Albus copied the motion silently, and Scorpius continued. "I mean, she may be a bit nervous about the house mug, or whatever, but I'm sure she knows that if there was anything dangerous, her parents wouldn't even have sent her," Albus nodded again, his face gaining a little color, "And besides, that witch seemed perfectly nice, and she's the divination professor, so if there was anything bad about to happen she'd be able to stop it in advance."

Scorpius realized, after he'd stopped talking, that several other first years nearby were unashamedly listening to his speech. They now stood, watching him, hoping for more encouragement. Scorpius shifted uncomfortably and tried to think of something to say when he found that someone else was speaking instead from behind him. He turned around to see the golden-haired Professor Derin approaching.

"Come along, all of you, time to be sorted! Oh, but make a proper queue, would you? Thanks!"

Scorpius fell into line behind Albus and walked quietly out of the chamber, across the hall again, and into the magnificent room he'd seen before. He noted that there were four tremendously long tables, undoubtedly one for each house, all light by hundreds of thousands of tiny floating candles. There was a little thud as Professor Derin set a little wooden stool in front of the crowd (for, naturally, the line had turned into a blob of people again when they entered the hall), and Scorpius noticed Albus had gone pale again.

"Albus," he whispered, and the dark haired boy turned around to face him. "I figured it out. You sit on that stool, and it can tell what house you belong in based on your rump."

It probably wouldn't have been funny if they weren't all so nervous, but Albus, and several nearby students, giggled tremendously. No one seemed to pay this any mind, however, as most of the eyes were upon the battered old hat Professor Derin was setting on the stool.

The room was completely silent for a moment, which made Scorpius suspicious and weary. The moment he took his eyes off the hat to glance around, though, it burst into song.

_"Precious little children,_

_ Please do not be alarmed,_

_ I'm just a hat who sorts and sings,_

_ So I'll deal you no harm._

_ I'm the Hogwarts Sorting Hat,_

_ It says so in my name,_

_ An' if you dine me dingy 'r worn,_

_ It's the decades who're to blame._

_ See, I've been around for ages,_

_ Sorting all who come,_

_ Step this way, and seat yourself,_

_ You two'll be sorted when I'm done._

_ Not long ago, there was a war,_

_ Of which most are aware,_

_ But, so you know, it's over now,_

_ It's neither here nor there._

_ Except, you'll do well to remember,_

_ And always keep in mind,_

_ That what splits apart without due cause,_

_ Will always mend in time._

_ So although I will divide you,_

_ Remember you're together,_

_ Four houses make up one whole school,_

_ You're owls of a feather._

_ Now I feel I should explain,_

_ All of these houses four,_

_ But this is it and this is all,_

_ I will not tell you more._

_ Firstly, we have Slytherin,_

_ Don't let them send you running,_

_ You'll their's warmth in everyone,_

_ Including those who're cunning._

_ Secondly, there's Ravenclaw,_

_ For those who're extra smart,_

_ Please be aware that where's there's brain,_

_ There's bound to be a heart._

_ Thirdly, we have Gryffindor,_

_ For those who're brave of spirit,_

_ Both fool and hero fight their fear,_

_ Where the rest would not go near it._

_ Lastly, we have Hufflepuff,_

_ Often tragically forgotten,_

_ For they're the truest and the loyal,_

_ And forgetting them is rotten._

_ Now that you are all informed,_

_ And surely all excited,_

_ I ask you, please, to put me on-_

_ You're all officially invited!"_

Scorpius found himself clapping along enthusiastically with the rest of the hall at the hat took several bows.

"There goes your magic stool theory," Albus murmured with a small smile, looking closer to health than Scorpius had seen him since they'd arrived, "What a _bummer_." Scorpius hated himself for laughing at that joke, but regretted it less when he saw that Albus was smiling a bit more. He was still a bit off-colour, though. Scorpius probably wouldn't have been as bothered by this, but it was easier to worry about Albus's well-being than to worry about where he'd be put.

Professor Derin appeared again holding a long scroll of parchment and announced, "Please sit on the stool and don the hat when I call your name. When you're sorted, please take a seat at the appropriate table. Let's see, first we have... Ainsworth, Bowers!"

A stocky boy with orangey hair made his way calmly out of line and sat down on the stool, putting on the hat.

"RAVENCLAW!" the hat cried a moment later.

The second table from the left cheered, and Bowers Ainsworth ran over, looked around for a minute, then took a seat where his housemates had made room for him. Scorpius found himself letting out a breath of relief. Not out of any concern for Bowers, of course, he was simply happy to see that it wasn't going to be such a challenge after all.

"Aldersley, Elma!"

"GRYFFINDOR!"

"Bagelsbee, Grismond!" There was some snickering and someone called out, indignantly, "It's a family name!"

"Come this way, Grismond!"

"RAVENCLAW!"

"Brewen, Allsop!"

"RAVENCLAW!"

More named were called, but Scorpius didn't pay attention to them. He was trying to figure out what the chances were of being sorted into each house. How common was each trait in comparison so the others?

He spent a good amount of time sorting through the numbers in his head, and he supposed he must have been making a weird expression because Albus nudged him and whispered, "You alright?"

Scorpius nodded, and tried to smile casually.

"Gennalty, Grace!"

"SLYTHERIN!"

He noticed Albus flinched at the prospect of Slytherin. He wished he could somehow tell Albus it would be alright without _saying_ it. He thought back to Rose in the compartment, comforting that Olivia girl, and wondered if maybe he should take Albus's hand.

"Havard, Maurice!"

"SLYTHERIN!"

Scorpius stuffed his hands in his pockets promptly after deciding that Albus could possibly react very negatively to such an action.

"Ingeldew Ivy!"

"RAVENCLAW!"

"Judwine, Lesley!"

"HUFFLEPUFF!"

Scorpius listened as the names went from J's to K's to L's. Every time he heard an L-name, he was sure he was next.

"Ludlow, Arthur!"

"GRYFFINDOR!"

"Malfoy, Scorpius!"

Scorpius felt Albus nudge his side encouragingly, and he took a step forward. There were a few more whispers than he'd noticed with any of the other first years, but maybe, he decided, it was because now he was actually paying attention. As he walked towards the stool, though, he felt that certainly there couldn't have been _that_ many whispers.

The hat fell over his eyes and the rest of the hall faded happily to black. It was silent, though. Had it been so silent with everyone else? Why were they whispering? Did he approach the hat wrong?

Maybe he wasn't supposed to go, maybe they'd said his name too soon, or-

"No, no, they said it at quite the right time. M does come after L, you know," said a small voice in his ear. Scorpius inhaled suddenly. "Right, now, let's see... Bit difficult, you are. Loyal, very loyal, and just. But you know your friends from your enemies, don't you? Quite smart, too, good head you've got. Nice and colorful in here... But where to put you?"

Scorpius thought for a moment, then decided, to himself, _I'd be fine with whatever_.

"Aah, a very Hufflepuff thing to say, isn't it? And yet, I think I see you as much more of a GRYFFINDOR!"

The hat seemed to have shouted this to the entire hall, and after a moment of hesitation Scorpius remembered to take it off. Placing it carefully down on the stool, he muttered a Thank-You to it and stood, uncomfortably, in front of the stool.

Scorpius wasn't sure if he'd imagined it or not, but, to him at least, the whole hall went quiet for a moment before the Gryffindor table began to cheer. At least, he assumed it was the Gryddindor table. They were wearing the right colours, after all...

Hardly thinking about it, he found himself walking over. Arthur Ludlow, who'd been sorted just before him, gestured to the chair next to his and Scorpius took it gladly.

**-Q-**

Rose found it a bit curious that there weren't any N's or O's, but it was also sort of convenient that M's skipped right to P's. This way, she'd know sooner what her chances were of being alone. Maybe it was selfish, but she became a little nervous when both Scorpius and Arthur were put in Gryffindor. They were probably her favourites so far, and if they were in the same house there was less of a chance she'd end up with either of them. At least they'd have each other, though, or something.

So, by this logic, she should probably have been hoping for Albus to be sorted anywhere but Gryffindor, but she wanted him, there, too. She supposed he'd be alright in Hufflepuff or Ravenclaw, but he'd seemed so worried about Slytherin... Best for him to be in Gryffindor, where he wouldn't have to worry at all.

"Pensive, Amelia!"

"HUFFLEPUFF!"

"Phellan, Lucellot!"

"RAVENCLAW!"

"Pleasant, Walter!"

"SLYTHERIN!"

"Potter, Albus!"

To Albus's credit, Rose noted, he walked up to the stool without delay and put the hat on. Rose wished it would just sort him already—it was making _her_ nervous how long it was pausing, surely poor Albus must be going positively mental in there.

Finally, it shouted, "GRYFFINDOR!"

The Gryffondor table cheered as loud as they ever had, and nearly twice as long—James Potter, Rose's older cousin, had to be told to "Settle down," by a nearby professor, but when he was silenced the whole table effectively calmed down.

Rose, too, had been cheering. A few people were looking at her, but she barely noticed this, and cared even less.

**-Q-**

One by one the other students went off to other tables. Eventually the group had dwindled down to Rose and maybe four others.

"Tribble, Hermon!"

"SLYTHERIN!"

"Weasley, Rose!"

Tired of waiting, Rose skipped quickly up to the stool, shoes clacking against the stone floor. Grabbing the hat round the brim, she placed it firmly on her head, and began to sit down on the stool when it shouted, "GRYFFINDOR!"

Rose beamed and ran to join the others at the table. There wasn't a free chair near anyone she knew, so she ended up sharing Albus's (he was too excited to really mind, though he probably would've shoved her off and told her to get her own chair in any other circumstance.)

"Wickfall, Norah!"

"GRYFFINDOR!"

Rose clapped and bobbed up and down as a with with choppy brown hair ran over.

"Yates, Daisy!"

"HUFFLEPUFF!"

"Zabini, Salaam!"

"SLYTHERIN!"

Albus beamed and announced, "I knew it."

"Yeah, I thought so, too," Scorpius replied.

Rose tried to perform her best impression as well, but found she could scarcely speak for laughing to hard.

**-X-**

Note:_ Terribly cliché? Yes, yes, I know. That coupled with my desperate attempts to stay true to the Hogwarts traditions might have made this chapter come off a bit contrived, so, if so, I really apologize for that D:_

_ If you didn't like it, please don't hesitate to lemme know why! I appreciate criticism, though I can't promise it'll help me improve at all (I'm hopeless :D). I wrote this all in one sitting, though, because I felt so dreadful for taking so long last time xD; I hope the sorting song wasn't too too bad, I really didn't spend very much time working through the words or anything, but hopefully it came out alright anyway._

_ Eep, so, yeah, hope you enjoyed it, thank you soo so much for reading! _

_ Happy Spring-Religious-Holiday, to anyone celebrating! Also, happy New-Season-of-Doctor-Who, to anyone celebrating! :D_


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